Isolated
by Fractoluminescence
Summary: There are two ways of getting isolated from one's world. Getting locked in, and getting locked out. In both cases, it's a change in one's environment. What's been going on... Some call it rotting. Some call it thriving. Some say it's the same thing. And I, of all people, am expected to be able to tell the difference. Great. That makes things so much simpler, doesn't it?
1. Storm

**Started around 4 a.m., finished near 6:45 a.m. on a Monday morning under a tent with an alarming wind outside... **

**Anyhow. You'll notice I'm putting theme songs for most of the chapters. **  
**Just warning you. 1/3 will actually have to do with the chapter or its mood. 1/3 will distort its meaning into nonsense. The last third will have nothing to do altogether with the chapter... Just sayin' ^^; **  
**So... I dunno. You can still look them up. They're nice songs ^^ **

**Just to warn you. I can't guarantee regular updates, much less short ones... I'll do my best though. **

**Rating is T for now but may change. I'll warn you in that case. **

**Character list isn't complete; too many people are going to show up. Pairings will show only when story gets to them. **

**A million thanks to GrowingAHead for proof-reading this story! I'll never thank her enough for this... (Her writing's awesome go read her stories) **

**Please put reviews! They're really important to people who write... 'Favorites' don't really give the impression of being people, so reviews are way more valuable to us ^^; **

**THIS CHAPTER IS SET DURING THE THOUSAND YEAR BLOOD WAR. TIME WILL THEN SKIP A FEW WEEKS AHEAD.  
**

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**_Theme**:** "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day_**

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Tatsuki tapped her phone's screen lightly. _3:34 a.m. _Then what?

Ichigo was gone, _again_. She hadn't heard of him for weeks. Same for Orihime. Chad also.

Ishida had been missing for just as long a period. She briefly wondered what the teachers would say to their best student when he showed up again.

In her right hand, Tatsuki held her phone. In the other was the ticket that man in a pink coat had given her. The image of the tall Soul Reaper with an eyepatch and cut ear still stayed, not unlike an after image, rising out from the shadows of her room.

She fiddled with the bit of paper. She had taken it out to look at, and somehow it just wouldn't leave her hand...

She glanced out her window, and the wind howled over the sound of the rain, as if the sky was whining in pain. _Now, _thought Tatsuki, _you couldn't just quietly __**weep**__, could you? _

Then suddenly everything stopped. The wind, the rain, even night itself seemed to stop as one single flash of lightning blinded her. Her eyes closed reflexively. As she tentatively opened them again, thunder rumbled menacingly, and a shape seemed to appear and grow at the horizon. Tatsuki climbed off her bed and stumbled over to the window. She threw it open and, feeling the clouds weighing on her, squinted into the distance.

At the horizon? No, the shape was much closer than that... And it was growing, literally, taller and taller, as if it were nibbling at bits of Alice's magic mushroom. It was also long, stretching from northwest to southeast as far as one could see, like a great barrier circling Karakura.

Tatsuki stared into the gloom. She stayed still one moment, looking out that window. Then she turned and ran for the door, grabbing a coat along the way, then stopped, went to her desk, and scribbled on a sticky note:

_went for a walk_

She dashed through the door, down the stairs, and out her house barefoot, down the street and left to the southwest, her feet splashing in the puddles as she kept her eyes on her goal. There was no use going to the Kurosaki clinic, Ichigo wasn't there anyway. No, she was rather heading for that huge _barrier over there_.

-=-=O=-=-

_4:02 a.m. _Tatsuki had stopped running a while ago. A few minutes earlier the Onose river had cut her off, and she was now walking along its banks. She had left Karakura and was getting to the foot of the 'barrier'.

She looked up as it loomed over her, seeming to say: _Now, where exactly do you think you're going? _

She walked up to it. Now that she was close she could see it was orange and slightly translucent, amber-like. She ran her hand along the smooth surface, and when she applied pressure to it with the palm of her hand she found it felt like pushing against a balloon, or perhaps Jell-O. But she also felt something else, something inside tugging at the white spiritual ribbons that surrounded her protectively. She drew back her hand in alarm.

Tatsuki looked left and right. A few night wanderers had stopped by to 'take a glance', and were either staring in astonishment or taking selfies with the odd Jello-O. A few turned to look at her. She looked at herself: in pyjamas, hair unbrushed, feet soaking in the icy water.

It was time she went home.

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**There will be a different picture for each chapter. I get them from a website called 'Unsplash'. The one for this chapter is 'Looking Out' by Alec Douglas. **

**Review? **


	2. Eavesdropping

**Here's another chapter! Can't believe I'm actually posting this after several years of thought on the story... :O **

**Do know, though, that this chapter was the first to be written, and I had to not only modify it several times, but also translate it and change some of the characters ^^; So it might sound a bit blocky... **

**I'm going to try updating every two weeks. Will I achieve this? See for yourself**

**Just to warn you readers though, this story's probably going to end up the length of a saga... You're in for a long ride... **

**Thank you so much to GrowingAHead again, I don't know what I'd do without her... **

**The theme for this one is a completely different type of music from the previous, AND in a different language... But I associate it with Kyouraku, now as to **_**why**_**...**

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_**Theme: "Trois Francs Six sous" by Opa Tsupa**_

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"Captain!"

Nanao slid the door sharply aside, but froze in slight surprise. The two men turned to her, apparently interrupted mid-speech. She immediately bowed.

"Forgive me, I hadn't noticed."

"It's okay, Nanao-chan. This will only take a few minutes, you'll have all my attention right after!"

"Alright. Captain Hirako..."

She addressed him with a slight bow, which he returned. Then she closed the door and took a step back.

Only to notice a figure standing against the wall, who slowly raised a finger to her lips in a silencing motion.

"Yadōmaru-san, what... are you doing...?" Nanao whispered.

The other's eyes glanced at her, before going back to the door. After a long moment of silence, she answered:

"I guess I 'wasn't able' to get rid of these habits. Besides, I'm just practicing."

_Huh..._ It wasn't like she still needed the spying, she attended the meetings for the 8th, right?... But that wasn't Nanao's business. What _was_ though was the letter she herself held, and to which Lisa had now directed her gaze. Nanao straightened.

"This letter from the Sixth Division is my and Captain Kyōraku's business only."

"Oh, so it's from Kuchiki-san...?"

Liza was quick to grab it from her, and - much to the Lieutenant's dismay - to open it, scanning the neat handwriting inside.

_Please consider telling your subordinate Ise Nanao_  
_to STOP urging the other members of the Soul Reaper_  
_Women's Association to plant sour figs in __**my**__ garden._  
_I agree that their many properties as medicine are impressive,_  
_but I will NOT allow them as these plants are edible and will_  
_leave patches of bare dirt once former Lieutenant_  
_Kusajishi learns about their potential use as food._

Nanao snatched the letter back, blushing as the Eighth Division's Lieutenant mustered all her existing self-control to hold back wild laughter. But both froze as the voices on the other side of the door picked up again.

"So, you were telling me one was found at the outskirts of Rukongai...?" went on the Head-Captain.

"Aye, by Shiba Kūkaku."

"And how was she able to pinpoint it?"

"Was told a young girl crossed it. Haven't met her yet - still knocked out, apparently - thus no idea what her intentions might be."

Kyōraku looked at him straight in the eye, then lowered his hat and asked, with nonetheless a tinge of wariness in his voice:

"Oh well... That's not very practical, is it? Doesn't _any of you_ have the slightest idea?"

His colleague tensed up.

"Nope. No idea."

"...I see. Thank you for your report anyway."

Footsteps were heard, and both women backed away slowly.

"One last thing..."

They relaxed, and to Nanao's astonishment, Lisa even pressed her ear against the door.

"Tell me if I'm mistaken, but I figure you've already crossed one of these portals yourself, haven't you?"

The blond Captain didn't turn.

"I mean, you told me yourself it was a hazardous journey that girl undertook. I don't mean to act nosy, but you know more than you'd like to tell, don't you?"

A moment of silence. Then...

"...That's nothin' of your business."

Kyōraku heaved a sigh.

"You sure don't open up often, do you...?"

This time Hirako didn't answer. He resumed walking to the door, and Nanao watched Lisa tiptoe silently away down the corridor.

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**The cover picture for this chapter has been updated to 'Light through the Door' by Bui Bao. **

**The chapters are short right now but they may become longer as the story goes. I guess it's often like that in the beginning? (Maybe?)**

**Review? **


	3. The Epic Thanksgiving Peacock Race

**Hi! Anyone still reading the A/N...? :P **

**The idea of taking ****The Scarlet Letter**** was really random. I just asked some person in my class the name of a book and they told me the title of the one we had just finished studying, so... There isn't a particular reason for it originally, but I just **_**might **_**find a use for it (no, seriously)...**

**Well, thanks to my dear classmate, Japanese students now study overly-complicated American literature. Why not. **

**And thanks to that same friend, there is some other weird stuff in here... (The mountain name for example...) **

**Apart from that... I believe American readers will find something in this chapter horribly **_**odd**_**. Just look at the chapter **_**title**_**, for goodness' sake! **  
**And this time, it **_**is**_** my fault... **

**Yet again, the whole chapter's pretty odd-seeming to me... **

**Thank you so much to GrowingAHead, again, for proof-reading this chapter, and for having the best ideas ever. A good third of this chapter exists thanks to her. Thank you so much T^T**

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_**Theme: "Outer Space" by Odd Chap**_

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"Today we're starting a brief study of American literature, the first of our 3 works being The Scarlet Letter -"

The teacher abruptly stopped and her eyes swept the room, narrowing at a couple of students.

"Well, well, well... What do we have here? Apparently, Kurosaki and his gang have done us the great _honor_ of being in our presence today. I have to admit I am not overly surprised that Kurosaki and Yasutora have been absent, it's not as if _that_ were out of the ordinary -" she glared at them as both boys looked purposefully at the floor - "but Inoue, and especially _you_, Ishida, of all people... I _truly_ thought the two of you were better than this..."

The classroom was silent for a few moments. Suddenly, Orihime spoke up as if awakening from a dream:

"But Ochi-sensei, don't you know about the Thanksgiving Peacock!?"

The whole class stared at her. Tatsuki briefly wondered why the 'peacock' thing sounded so wrong...

And since nobody answered, Orihime went on.

"You haven't heard of it? Well, Thanksgiving is an American holiday. The Thanksgiving Peacock is told to be able to grant three wishes on Thanksgiving to whoever catches it first! So of course, everybody who knew about it quickly hurried to Mount SweetMonster to get it, and that way a giant and intense race started as to who would get to the top first!"

Orihime paused to breathe, but didn't stop there. Uryū pulled his glasses off and exasperatedly rubbed his nose between his thumb and forefinger as she told her tale...

"At the very beginning, Ichigo's dad took the first place, but he quickly fell back to help Yuzu who had tripped over a root. Rukia ate her crackers as she ran, so she wasn't going very fast at first, but once she had a sip of water her speed literally _doubled_. She and her brother were running up front, but then Uryū caught up with them, except Byakuya sent him a glare and he fell back -"

"_I did NOT!_"

Uryū blushed bright red as his classmates and teacher turned to him. He stuttered.

"I, uh... I was tying my shoelaces!"

"Laaaame..." said Ichigo. "No _wonder_ you didn't win."

Anger flared up in the Quincy.

"You-! You were _last_, so you don't have the right to say that!"

"I-" The Soul Reaper crossed his arms. "Yuzu twisted her ankle when she fell. I couldn't just ignore it and go on racing! Besides, you usually never wear shoelaces, or you wouldn't be _that_ slow at doing them!"

At that point Tatsuki face-palmed.

-=-=oOo=-=-

In the end they somehow managed to get only one hour of detention each - seemingly thanks to Orihime's twisted tale - and the class moved on to the lesson. But if the majority of the students had been silent - mostly from bewilderment - during the story of the Epic Thanksgiving Peacock Race, they now got quickly unfocused. Most of them chatted among themselves and gave long, anxious glances out the window, northwards. This went on until someone raised a hesitating hand.

"Yes?" A pair of glasses turned to him. The student tried sounding casual.

"I was wondering, Ochi-sensei... I asked around, and nobody seemed to know, and since you don't seem worried... Do you happen to know what that orange thing outside is?..."

Tatsuki glanced at the barrier. In daylight it was indeed easier to see its color. In her mind, she actually questioned the fact that the masses hadn't started to panic by now. This calm probably wouldn't last.

"No, I do not. Do _you_ happen to know, Takahashi-san?"

"Well, no, I -"

"Do you _always_ ask your teachers to explain newly appearing phenomena as if they were specialized in such things? I know _'I_' did not at your age. Even though teachers are supposed to have more experience than you, that doesn't mean they are all-knowers." She sighed. "I remember, when I was in high school - which wasn't that long ago, mind you! - and I had this one science teacher who I thought would always know _everything_. Until one day I happened to ask him about 'the molecular structure of a spider web'."

Someone in the room heaved a sigh, without daring to actually interrupt her. She ignored it.

"Now, as it happened that teacher was terrified of spiders. But I reasoned that this wouldn't stop him from knowing a thing or two about their webs, wouldn't you agree? So I asked him. He said he didn't have an answer. I asked him where I could look for the information and he advised me to go to the school library. But when I got there I was told all the books about spiders were constantly borrowed - as a matter of fact the lady at the desk said that students tended to complain about how their teacher didn't know a thing about spiders; and in a small village like ours, there wasn't really anybody else to ask. So I'd have to wait until someone with a borrowed book showed up to get a chance to look at it _before someone else showed up_.  
Looking back on this period I think it might have been partially due to the popularity of Spider-Man in my school that year..."

As she said this she put a finger to her lips in thought, a childish gesture that was noticed and interpreted by several students as a mocking imitation of Orihime. It was gone in an instant, and Ochi-sensei's face went from thoughtful to serious as she readjusted her glasses. This particular vengeful mimicking had several students snickering and a particular one seething.

"In any case," she went on, "this event taught me two things: first, no teacher is an all-knower, especially in a subject he or her has never been in contact with."

_'Obviously'_, thought the room.

"Second: rare information is so valuable that it can entice primary students to go as far as to trade their lunches for it." She frowned. "_Three_ lunches, to be exact. And he lent me the book for only _twenty-four hours_. I call that daylight robbery."

Ochi Misato then turned back to the board, stubbornly ignoring the awkward silence at her back as her students silently debated which of the two - Orihime or their teacher - was weirder.

After deciding that at least Ochi-sensei's tale had made _some_ sort of sense - though Inoue's was more entertaining - Takahashi attempted to take notes, failing miserably as his eyes followed the moving chalk, then drifted over to the teacher.

He stared at the woman's back as she went on teaching an ordinary lesson to ordinary students in an ordinary school. Then again, she was just an ordinary teacher _herself_, after all...

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**Orihime's tale is nonsense, of course. Now, I wonder if Misato's might not actually be true... ^^; **  
**Hopefully you'll like seeing her around, because she's gonna be there quite a bit in certain parts of the story. **

**The picture is a photo by Gabby Orcutt.**

**Hope you enjoyed! Review? **


	4. First Sight of Another World

**Hi everybody! :D **

**Here's another chapter. You people might have been wondering (speaking to the few people who actually read this story ^^;) who the girl mentioned in chapter 2 was (the one who came in through a portal). Well, here she is ^^ **

**I think it'll bring forth your curiosity - hopefully it will, at least. That's what it's meant to do, anyway... **

**Thanks again to GrowingAHead - I swear, I wouldn't be so confident posting this if it wasn't for her. Thank you so much T^T**

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_**Theme: "Une fille dans le désespoir" by Malicorne**_

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She felt as light as a feather. Something like a soft cloth brushed against her body, and she fought her subconscious' suggestion of a shroud. This type of thought was unwanted here. It had to be. Besides, a shroud would be much lighter than this... right...?

It took a few minutes for her to calm down. Then she opened her eyes.

Above her was the blank ceiling of a large room. Light seeped in through the curtains on the opposite wall. The ceiling stretched to her right and left. Her position - on her back, looking up - prevented her from seeing further.

In an effort to analyze her surroundings, she sat up - a sudden movement that she realized had been a bad idea. As she clutched her head in sudden headache, her shoulder-length dark brown hair falling over her face, a voice spoke up hesitantly.

"Um... Good morning!"

Next to her bed sat a boy on a stool. Her vision was still blurred, but Lydia gazed at him anyway.

_Black, traditional Japanese kosode-like clothing, white shitagi under it, can't see past the white obi. Something hangs from the sash over his right shoulder. Short black hair. Looks shy. Nothing dangerous in his hands... Dammit, should have checked that __**first**__. _

She needed something to take notes.

Since the boy seemed to have no other intention than to smile at her, Lydia took her time to look around the room. She made out a few other beds, as well as tables covered in rolled-up bandages and vials. She assumed she was in some sort of medical care building, an infirmary maybe?

She had to admit she was glad to have woken up in a place that looked relatively welcoming.

"Here. Take this..."

The boy had stood up and was coming back with a glass of water. He held it out to her. Lydia took it and tried to thank him, but her throat was too dry so she gave him a nod instead.

At least they spoke the same language. Lydia was thankful for that too, as well as for all the familiar things she was currently surrounded by. You never knew what you'd come upon when entering a different world. She wondered to what extent it resembled her own.

She _really _needed something to write on. And something to write _with_. She had taken all she needed with her, so hopefully her stuff was close by. She pulled the covers off herself and gazed at what she wore.

Her traveling clothes. Gone. She checked the white shitagi wrapping her body for pockets.

Nothing.

She frantically looked around. Nothing on the bedside table, nothing in the boy's hands, or on the other beds, as for the other tables and the floor... She couldn't see, she had to sit straighter, she had to _stand_...

The boy pushed her back down onto the bed.

"You shouldn't stand. You'll worsen your condition. And um..." he spoke, his voice dropping its professional tone, "if it's your belongings you're looking for, they're in the drawer..."

_Oh. _

Lydia pulled at the handle next to her bed and found her traveling clothes neatly folded inside, with all of her pockets' contents on top. Including her notepad.

Hanatarō watched her shoulders relax as she pulled a few objects out. She put the notepad on the table beside her, turning it to the first page - which was blank. _It has to be brand new_, he thought. He went on watching as she circled her forearm with a long, bendable pencil - _Unusual to write with, but I guess it must be harder to break - _and folded the end of her sleeve over it. Then she slid a golden, engraved bracelet over her left wrist and looked back at him with a bright smile. He did his best to return it.

There was a knock at the door, and Hanatarō went to open it.

"Hirako-taichō." The boy bowed. "Good morning."

What he got in return was something that sounded like a muttered 'Morning, Hanatarō' followed by 'Was sent to check on her once she woke up'. The Captain - that's what 'taichō' meant, right? At least Lydia _thought_ it was - glanced at her. Then he turned and headed back for the door.

"Um... Sir?" Hanatarō cursed his horrible sense of formality. "A... greeting for her, maybe...?"

The man stopped. Lydia snapped to attention.

_Analyze. First: nothing in his hands. Second: similar outfit to the boy - black and white traditional Japanese clothing - no bag though __\- __and a white, flowing haori-like cape with black markings near the bottom, going down to his thighs. Third: short, blond hair going down to his chin, practically golden, with the bangs cut askew. _And his odd frown seemed to mean: _You've got to be kidding me. _

He might as well have said it.

"Just how many tries did it take for even _one_ of ya to come back alive!?"

Lydia froze. What did _he_ know about portals? She unconsciously brought her hand to the golden bracelet, twisting it nervously around her wrist.

Either the question had been rhetorical or the questioner wasn't willing to wait for an answer. He turned again and had already taken a step out the door by the time Lydia shouted:

"Wait!"

She reflexively put a hand to her mouth - one doesn't shout in a hospital, or whatever this place was. But it had been effective; the man took a step back and stuck his head through the door, a bony hand gripping the doorframe.

"What?"

His tone was sour. Lydia more or less managed to pull herself together - wondering why it was so hard, why she had a lump in her throat, considering she had never been a particularly shy person - and used as much defiance as she was able to muster.

"You speak as if you knew better."

Her voice had come out sounding rather accusatory - not that she minded. How _dare_ he question the legitimacy of her presence here! She raised her head to add another snapping remark -

Suddenly her whole body went rigid, and at that moment she couldn't tell whether the violent shaking of her shoulders was a shiver or a shudder. "I'll tell you somethin'."

The whisper that slipped down her ear felt like a trickle of icy water.

"Has it occurred to ya that the portal ya went through might've been a one-way ticket?"

Then he was gone. Lydia barely saw him walk out.

After a moment of silence, Hanatarō laughed uneasily.

"Well _that_ was... blunt...!" He commented, in hopes of cheering her up.

Lydia didn't answer. She lay back down onto the bed, overcome by a sudden urge to hide under the warm, safe covers. She closed her eyes, holding back unwanted tears. Then she somehow managed to fall asleep, the worry and the _fear_ fading away. At least for now.

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**Hey! Hopefully you enjoyed reading this chapter ^^**

**If you did, please leave a review - thankfully I won't die of hunger - not with GrowingAHead as a proof-reader anyway - but it would still be nice ^^**

**The cover picture is a photo by Pelle Martin, on Unsplash. **


	5. Pathetic Fallacy

**Hi! **

**I like the construction of this chapter - maybe because it's the first time I do something like this? Dunno ^^; **

**This chapter is one day late - which isn't very dramatic, mind you. Hopefully it's not the whole writing of the story that's getting late, but if so then I'll have to take an extra week sometime. I'll warn you readers if I do. **

**For those who don't know what 'pathetic fallacy' is, it's basically when it rains while a character is sad, or sunny when a character is particularily happy. More or less. **

**Thanks again to my dear proof-reader GrowingAHead for this - like that last little bit of the chapter that I wasn't sure about. Dunno what I'd do without her...**

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_**Theme: "Better Than I Know Myself" by Adam Lambert**_

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Ichigo nearly tripped as he stepped onto the roof.

"You sure you're alright?" asked Keigo, launching himself forward to catch his friend in case he _did_ fall, only to land on his face miserably.

"I told you already, I'm fine," the other replied as he let go of the doorframe he had been holding onto. In truth, he had a horrible headache. It had started right after the last battle in the Spiritual Realm, when the adrenaline went down, and had been gradually getting worse since then.

Then again, he hadn't been the only one; Uryū looked pale, Chad looked queasy... Goat Face and Karin, as much as they were trying to hide it, looked a little off. And Yuzu had broken a plate for the _very first time_. Only Orihime was seemingly unaffected, although she seemed even more unfocused than usual...

Ichigo walked forward, but as he headed for their usual spot across from the door, Keigo 'subtly' took him by the shoulders and steered him to the left.

"Hey, something up with you?" asked the redhead casually. There was no way he was raising his voice with that headache.

His friend didn't answer. Instead he gestured to Mizuiro and Chad, and made Uryū... an awkward face.

The Quincy followed anyway.

All five of them settled in a corner, away from the door and from the opposite side of the roof where Ōshima and his group tended to sit.

"So," Keigo immediately started, then waited expectantly. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him.

"'So' what?"

"So!"

"Where were you?" clarified Mizuiro after a moment.

Keigo turned to him in outrage, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and shaking him back and forth violently, tears streaming down his face.

"Mizuiro! Hadn't you promised to let me ask him? What am I to you?! I thought you trusted me with this... T_T"

Ichigo seized the opportunity to seek Uryū's help, but the latter shook his head. _Damn._ As for Chad, he was suddenly occupied with watching a group of birds flying some distance away.

"So?" asked Mizuiro. Keigo turned his head to look at him as well. Both their gazes were clearly meant to signal the orange-haired teen that it was _his_ turn to say something. He sighed.

"Didn't you listen to Orihime?" he said. "We were at that _Grand and Magnificent_ something-_Peacock Race_..."

His four companions stared at him in disbelief. Then Uryū cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.

"Indeed. And it was quite an experience," he said diplomatically.

"Certainly must have been," a wickedly grinning Ichigo added, "for someone who can't tie his shoelaces fast enough to win it."

That's how Keigo ended up spending the next ten minutes of his life trying to calm the both of them down. Then he asked his question again.

* * *

"No, Orihime. For real. We all _looove_ your stories, and creativity is great and all, but this is serious."

"You left without telling anybody, and you didn't leave a message."

"Exactly! Do you even know how worried we were?"

Orihime looked away. She looked at the bright green grass. At the roots, then up the trunk of a tree to its branches. Her eyes followed a robin as it flew off into the sky, which had lots of weird-shaped clouds in it, and if she looked carefully and used her imagination a bit she could make out a bunny, a pineapple, and a pinkish cloud that _totally_ looked like a sakura tree. A cat-shaped cloud disappeared in a Shunpo-like puff that floated away...

"Orihime!"

Orihime snapped out of her daydream and looked ahead. Mahana had stood up and come closer, and was now waving a hand in front of her face.

"Hey, Miss Sky Princess! Figured out the 'Cloud Pattern' yet? Ready to come back down to Earth?"Large, innocent-looking eyes blinked up at her.

"Well... I'm just packing my spacesuit! I'll be down there in just a moment!" Orihime clapped her hands together, her eyes glittering, proud of having found such an inspiring come-back. Mahana sighed.

"Don't think you can lock away your head in the sky like that forever," she said. "It's not healthy, anyway."

Orihime giggled nervously.

"I don't, know what, you mean!" she sang, picking up her last meatball-cookie-crumb-and-jam sandwich. But before she could bite into it a hand grasped her shoulder and she froze, reflexively analyzing the heavy-hearted aura she felt beside her. She turned to Tatsuki, her smile faltering, and fought to disguise her expression as a quizzical one.

Tatsuki stood up. Orihime followed her. They walked a little way off and stopped among the trees. They stilled and stayed so for a moment in silence.

"Tatsuki..." Orihime started.

"Listen," said her friend quietly, and Orihime noticed that her voice was strained. "I already know what you are about to say. You mean to say sorry, that you wish I could have come along. All the while thinking that there was no way _I_ could have done something useful without getting _hurt_ \- not any more than _you_ could anyway."

"Tatsuki..."

"But you _know_ that's not what I want to hear from you." Tatsuki's eyes saddened as her friend looked at her feet. "What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?" She paused, her voice dropping to a murmur. "How can I even _try_ to understand the decisions you make if I don't know what you're going through? How can I still... _be_ your friend? "

Wide, child-like eyes shot up at the sky in expectation, as if pleading the drifting white patches for help.

The Shunpo-like puff was still there. It was turning greyish and regrouping, taking the shape of a snake.

"Orihime! Stop looking away when I ask you something!" Tatsuki had grabbed her by the shoulders again. "You..." She looked on the verge of tears. "You didn't do that, before!"

There was a gust of wind and the grey cloud lost its shape, despite Orihime's attempts to make sense of it again.

Tatsuki tried standing in between her and the sky.

"You didn't get involved in a _war_ again, _did you_?"

A storm was gathering. The last wisp of white cloud fluttered in alarm, like pale strands of hair waving rashly in the wind, then resigned itself to its fate. Black, half-liquid goo poured over it from the sky above, looming in like a tide and crackling with electricity.

Orihime shuddered as she silently nodded. Tatsuki felt her spiritual pressure waver and shuddered in turn. A sudden question slipped past her lips.

"Who... won?"

Darkness engulfed the white wisp of cloud and it vanished into the storm.

"Orihime...?"

* * *

"Ichigo...?"

Keigo's tone was one of worried concern, something his friends hadn't heard from him for quite a while. Mizuiro swept his calculating gaze across the faces of his classmates: Uryū was chewing slowly, following his chopsticks' movement with his eyes. Then he slowed down further and threw a queasy glance at his food. As for Chad, he had wisely put down his lunch already, intently looking at the sky again, watching a robin fly up and down and play in the wind.

Just as Keigo was getting ready to ask his question a second time, Ichigo answered on his own, without raising his head.

"...Nobody did."

Keigo stared at him in puzzlement.

"But it's over, right? How can it be over if nobody won?"

Ichigo would have replied if it wasn't for the heavy raindrop that landed on his hand. It was quickly followed by a dozen others.

"It's raining," stated Mizuiro. "Let's head in."

* * *

"Dammit, it's pouring! Orihime, Tatsuki, we're gonna head for cover!" shouted Mahana towards the trees. "Come on!"

As all five of them scurried towards the building, a blurry mass plummeted past Orihime's face. She stopped and looked down.

A robin, its wind-torn wing stained red, was lying motionless at her feet.

* * *

**The cover for this chapter is a photo by Leon Contreras, on Unsplash. **

**Hope you liked it! (The chapter, I mean...) Please review if you did, it warms one's heart considerably ^^**


	6. Memories - Part 1

**THANK GOODNESS for a moment I thought I wouldn't be able to post this morning. Not only did my computer problems get so dire a few days ago that I had to start using one of my father's, but on **_**top**_** of that our internet's gone dead. The operator gave my Mom extra internet on her phone – which is what I'm using right now -_-; **

**This is one of the chapters that completely changed since it was first written – you wouldn't **_**believe**_** what it originally was like. And honestly I don't want you to know... ^^; **

**Two themes for this chapter, since it's in two definite parts. Might as well ^^; **

**Thanks, once again, for GrowingAHead's help with proof-reading this and telling me about her reactions – it really helps get an idea of what a reader may experience. I'm always impressed at how much she's able to deduce too ^^**

* * *

**_Themes: "Royalty" by Conor Maynard, "No Boundaries" by Kris Allen/Adam Lambert_**

* * *

_"Come on!" someone edged on, voicing the growing impatience of the little crowd that had formed. _

_The one addressed tried one last time to lay his weight on the string, but gave up as it went off to the side again. He shrugged. _

_"I can't do it. I give up." He laughed it off, other kids already gathering to get another go. _

_A small figure fought through the crowd. She was six, and looked tiny among the seven-year-old boys around her. Eager to show what she could do, she asked to try, and immediately the group parted like the Red Sea to let her through. The guy on the tree stump jumped off and she got cheered on as she stepped up in his place._

_Someone called her name. She turned to the sound of the voice as a tough-looking boy hurried over. _

_"If you fall, I'll catch you!" he declared with brave determination in his eyes. The girl giggled shyly, then turned to face the string in front of her, pulled tight about one foot off the ground. She breathed in, then lifted her foot and tentatively placed it onto the unstable line of thread. Anticipation had her shaking, nearly stepping back, but she held as still as she could, determined to make the experience worth it. She readjusted her foot, then suddenly lifted the other one and lunged forward, intending to go as far as possible, further than any of the seven-year-olds had been able to go - which was a miserable two feet and a half. _

_She managed three full steps before her foot slipped, the string scraping her ankle painfully, then tripping her as she tried regaining her balance. She felt herself fall but wasn't scared. _

_She was __**never**__ scared. Not __**ever**__. _

_But still, her fingers instinctively gripped the shirt of her savior as he caught her - or rather shielded her as they both hit the ground with a dull 'thump'. _

_The both of them stood up amidst impressed glances as the audience broke into a loud cheer._

* * *

She had needed someone to catch her back then - but she'd been a child! She hadn't backed down at the time, so she had no reason to do so now. It was distressing, to say the least - but _hey_. She could take care of herself.

Lydia tried to ignore the headache pulsing beneath her skull as she moved onto her back, marveling at how light she felt, to the point where she could hardly feel the weight of her own body press into the mattress.

She'd make the most of this time spent in another world - she had so much to explore, so many people to meet, so much data available, just waiting to be collected...

And it wasn't some cold-blooded supernatural _freak_ who was gonna change that.

* * *

-=-=O=-=-

* * *

_A steady, thumping noise started as he stepped up onto the platform and flicked the switch. His associate pressed a few buttons and glanced at the clock-like device to his right. _

_"Ready?" he asked. _

_"As usual." _

_"Front coordinates: 2-12-5-1-3-8. Back coordinates: 19-8-15-5." _

_"I have them memorized." _

_"As organized as always..." _

_They smiled at each other, their expressions holding an ever so slightly sad tinge.  
_

_"This is not meant to be a goodbye," he said after a moment. _

_"Hopefully not..." _

_The other's voice was drenched in worry - it always was. _

_"I will be back. It's the fourth time already." _

_Was that confidence? He hadn't wondered about it at the time. _

_"We can never be sure enough." _

_"True. But I'll be back. _

_What could possibly go wrong? _

_"Is this a promise?" _

_He thought for a moment. _

_"Yes. Yes, it is."_

* * *

Huh. It'd been a long time since one of _these_ popped up. What had been that guy's name again?

Hirako Shinji shrugged the thought away.

What did it matter? It wasn't as if these were _his_ memories anyway...

* * *

**Aaaand that was another short chapter. Oh well. Hope you liked it anyway ^^; **

**The updated cover for this one is a photo by Yousef Espanioly that I got, once again, from Unsplash. **


	7. Nautical Twilight Call

**Hello...**

**This one is so late... I'm so sorry... Maybe it's because of the exams I've been having. Or because I've been having too much free time to literally **_**waste**_**. I dunno. But this chapter is really late. Not planning on having that happen often or anything -_-;**

**So, here's another chapter anyway. Stuff starts happening in Karakura - as long as one doesn't consider a giant Jell-O wall surrounding the town as 'stuff happening' of course ^^;**

**Thank you so much to my proof-reader (GrowingAHead), once again! She's awesome, I swear she finds ways to fix stuff I'd never have thought of for some reason T_T**

* * *

_**Theme:**_ _**"Nocturne in C-sharp minor" by Chopin**_

* * *

"I'm home!" called Ichigo before entering the kitchen. "And I'm with a patient!" he added for good measure.

Only _then_ did he walk through the door.

As expected, Goat Face had stopped dead in his tracks. Ichigo took the opportunity to slip past his father as he stuck his head through the door and searched the corridor for the said patient.

"Where...?"

"Right here."

Ichigo held up what seemed to be his lunch box, and Isshin would have thought his son was kidding if it wasn't for the gentle pulsing of life he felt coming from inside the bundle.

He took it cautiously and gently undid the cloth.

The lid had been taken off, and the food Yuzu had prepared that morning had been cleaned thoroughly. The bottom had been fitted with a perfectly-sized quilt stuffed with a full inch of cotton. On it lay a small bird with a bandaged wing.

It chirped up at him.

Yuzu glanced over and let out a surprised little gasp. She put down her wooden spoon and hurried over, peering inside the box.

"Aww, it's so _cute_!"

"What happened?" asked her sister from over her shoulder. "Did it navigate itself into a branch or something?"

"Karin!" reproved Yuzu, outraged.

"Uryū said its wing probably got torn when the wind picked up," replied their sibling. "Orihime found it on the ground and immediately went to get him. He's also the one who made the quilt."

"Shouldn't she have taken it home then, since she was the one to find it? I mean, it doesn't actually _need_ to be taken to a clinic, with the wound already bandaged and all?"

"Both she and Chad argued that the bandages would have to be changed eventually, and Uryū backed them up, so there was no way for me to get out of it..."

He couldn't exactly tell Karin that he'd gladly have entrusted the bird to Orihime, if his friend hadn't already exhausted herself healing the wounded after a war that happened barely a few weeks ago...

After taking down Yhwach, she, Chad, Uryū, Rukia, Renji and Ichigo had regrouped and helped clear the last of the troublemaking Quincy, gather the wounded and make sure they were in safe hands - all this while the SRDI worked at getting Seireitei and Soul Palace back in their original places. After a few hours, half of them had started dropping from exhaustion - the others still standing and moving around as slow as zombies - and the Fourth had ordered them to rest for a few days.

Then somehow _someone_ decided - *cough* - that the "living individuals" weren't needed anymore - despite the obvious lack of helping hands - and were to be sent back.

_Gotta love Soul Society's logic_, thought the Substitute.

"You sure it will eat those?"

His sister's voice snapped Ichigo out of his thoughts.

"Sure!" Yuzu chirped at her twin. "I'm gonna put some on a plate."

She gripped the handle of the cupboard door as she reached for a jar of pumpkin seeds.

The chair under her feet wobbled and Ichigo sprang forward.

"Woah, hold on let me get that."

Unfortunately, the sudden movement awoke his headache and he had a hard time ignoring it as it pounded against the inside of his skull. He helped Yuzu down from the chair, took the jar and set it on the counter. And cringed at the pain pulsing at his temple.

Karin studied his face.

"Yuzu, do we have any Aspirin left?" she asked, her eyes locked on her brother.

"Sure, why?" Her sister's expression suddenly turned worried. "Karin, are you okay?"

"I'm _fine_. Just go get it, and then give me a hand holding Ichigo down while I stuff it down his throat."

Her older sibling spun around.

"Wait - What?!"

-=-=O=-=-

Yuzu made them curry that evening. That would have been enough to put Ichigo in a particularly good mood if it wasn't for the eye contact she made with her sister as she placed the pot on the table.

One that meant: _We're doing it __**tonight**__._

Until that point, somehow, the topic just hadn't come up. But as they started making the curry disappear, Karin asked out of nowhere:

"So, are you gonna tell us where the both of you were?"

Isshin and his son munched on innocently.

"Karin and I were worried you know," continued Yuzu, "especially when that orange jelly appeared while you were gone."

"And since apparently we're the only ones left out, we want to get an actual answer this time. Now, what are those Jell-O fortifications outside?"

"No idea," the pair replied simultaneously.

Ichigo immediately turned to his father.

"Wait, you don't know?!" he asked him incredulously.

"I might soon," said the older man. Or rather, Urahara's working on finding out."

Just then, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and soon, Ichigo's keen hearing picked up the shopkeeper's playful voice. Karin reached over the table and quickly turned the speaker on before the greetings were even over. Nobody stopped her, and she went on eating seemingly undisturbed.

"So," said Isshin when he managed to get an opening in the continuous flow of (unnecessary) information pouring from the speaker, over his fingers, wrist and dripping onto the table. "How is the _LCOTSJORO_ going?"

"Oh, the _Let's Check Out This Suspicious Jell-O Ring Operation_, you mean?"

Ichigo nearly choked on his water. _The LCOTSJOR Operation. Of __**course**__._

"Ah, but isn't that the young Deputy Soul Reaper I hear coughing over the line? _Hellooooo_ there!"

The addressed Deputy Soul Reaper felt like punching the phone. How did the guy even know _who_ was coughing, anyway?!

"Hi," he replied with the most annoyed tone he could muster.

"Oh _dear_," said the voice, "what did poor innocent little me do to anger you?"

Isshin cleared his throat.

"So, how _is_ the Operation going?" he asked again.

_Note that the full name of it was dropped pretty quickly..._ thought Ichigo.

"Well, about that," the shopkeeper said. "As you know, it was to be launched this morning. I thus hung the _CLOSED_ sign on my door and set off East at dawn."

Ichigo's first reflex was to sigh, but he had to hold in an amused chuckle upon noticing Yuzu's captivated stare.

_She has __**no idea**__,_ he thought.

"Urahara..." sighed Isshin.

"My, my, just as impatient as your son! Must run in the family."

Now there were _two_ people in the room who wished punching the phone would do any good.

"Anyhow," continued the voice. "As accurate as I can be standing at the foot of it, I'd estimate that Jell-O wall to be around 80 feet high. As for its width, one would have to dig through it to know. It's too opaque to see through beyond a few feet, ten or fifteen at most."

Karin had looked up from her plate of curry.

"You tried digging through it then?" she asked, ignoring her sister's astonished _'OMG-she-just-talked-to-that-awesomely-professional-sounding-scientific-guy-on-the-phone'_ face.

"Well, that's what I _would_ have done," replied the shopkeeper, unfazed, "if it wasn't for some unexpected safety measure I had to put in place _first_."

Yuzu's eyes lit up in wonder.

Ichigo put his chopsticks down for a moment.

"You mean that thing is dangerous?"

"Not necessarily. But it seems to have the property of sucking in spiritual pressure. Which leads me to the issue I'm calling about in the first place."

"Which is?"

As small as the room was, Ichigo's voice seemed to ring in the sudden silence. It had a tense, practically _icy_ undertone to it.

The shopkeeper took a moment to choose his words carefully.

"We don't know how wide the barrier is, but depending on how quickly it appeared, it may - or may not - have covered houses and trapped people inside. Taking into account how it seems to eat up Reiryoku, it may be wise to attempt digging through it, to try and access the potential -"

Urahara heard the scraping sound of a chair against the wooden floor.

"Ichigo, you should -"

"Where are you?"

"Ichigo -"

"_Where are you?_"

The shopkeeper hesitated.

"East of my shop, by the _Chorizo Club_. I've sent Ururu and Jinta to get a couple of shovels."

"Dad, do we have a shovel?"

Isshin hesitated as well.

"Under the stairs, along with the brooms and stuff..."

_'Along with the brooms and stuff'?_ thought Karin. _Thank goodness I know Goat Face's been using it for God-knows-what, I'd be worried for Yuzu if __**she**__'d been the one to put it __**there**_

"Ichigo, you should stay -"

"_Look_, Urahara. I can't just -"

"You should -"

"_I SHOULD __**NOTHING**__!_" He was on the verge of shouting. "I can't just stay put while people may be stuck in their homes, getting their energy sucked out by some unknown orange... orange... _thing!_ What if their Reiryoku gets depleted? They could _die_ from this!" His voice fell. "They may already _be_ dead. But it's worth a try."

He stormed out. The room was silent for a moment.

The shopkeeper laughed apologetically.

"Whoops... There he goes again..."

Isshin sighed.

"It's not your fault. How many shovels do you have?"

"Well, I see that Ururu and Jinta are coming back with... oh, I'd say about a _dozen_ of them."

"Alright. Don't send too many back, I'm coming to give a hand as well."

Yuzu - who had gone all sad from her brother's outburst - suddenly perked up, and chirped:

"Save one for me - I'm coming too!"

* * *

**The cover is a photo by Nine Kopfer this time. **

**Review? Something I can feed on? :) **

**Note: After posting this once, I noticed kanji ****(or something alike)**** had somehow slipped into the text... So I took them out ^^; **


	8. Data

**Aaaand another late chapter. Sorry for that. My life's been a little full of empty recently... **

**This chapter probably answers a couple of questions. It's its purpose, really. Hopefully it does just that ^^; **

**Thanks again to my awesome proof-reader GrowingAHead. She's awesome ^^**

* * *

_**Theme: "Rêverie" by Debussy**_

* * *

The uncomfortable pressure at her arm must have been what woke Lydia up. Hanatarō looked past the dark brown strands of her hair to see her eyelids twitch.

"So-Sorry!..." he apologized sheepishly. "I had no intention of waking you up. I was merely checking your blood pressure. Just a routine checkup... "

She didn't seem fully awake yet, if her green eyes' puzzled blinking was any indication. So, he continued slowly.

"I'm... not sure I am the proper person to judge so, but maybe you shouldn't worry too much about... whatever Captain Hirako said. From what little I've seen of him, he can be an... expressive man, and may possibly have been over-dramatizing. He's like that, sometimes. But he probably doesn't mean any harm."

Lydia's eyes finally focused and she threw him a smile.

"Portals are like doorways - if you can go through them one way, then you can come back the other way. And if you're missing the key, then you just need to pick the lock."

Hanatarō smiled back. She... seemed to know what she was doing.

He honestly hoped she was right.

As for Lydia, she highly doubted the "Captain" had been kidding, and thus deduced he was probably the type to blurt out anything he knew - whatever that was. She knew she shouldn't be classifying him into a category just yet, but one couldn't help first impressions, right?

"In any case, you should forget all that for now - at least until you have fully recovered." The black-clad boy flattened a palm to his chest in self-designation. "I am Yamada Hanatarō - a healer. I am in charge of you until you're well and can safely leave this room."

_"Healer"? _Was that the same as a doctor? He looked very self-conscious for a professional...

As Lydia's thoughts drifted off again, she suddenly felt light-hearted. There was no hurry, she could spend as much time as she wanted here before going home - there wasn't anyone to tell her what to do, not even that annoying _colleague_ who always acted like he was her boss (even though he wasn't). Her parents - scratch that. Her _father_ might get worried a bit, but that was it.

Hanatarō threw her a quizzical look as she sat straighter, her smile widening.

It was here and now that her adventure began.

She was _free_.

* * *

**EXTRACT FROM LYDIA'S DIARY**

* * *

_Days 1 & 2 - No account_

* * *

_Day 3 - April 19th_

_April 19th: As expected, the date isn't lined up with my own world's - it feels odd nonetheless, especially since when I asked around people seemed unsure of what year it is (How?) which makes me a little uncomfortable. _

_But. _

_Here's my situation: My name is Makitova Lydia, and I'm 19. I recently graduated from my school's PS (Portal Studies) course and am now working at APLCOR (the Active Portal Linking Center of Research). _

_And here I am, in another world. _

_I can still hardly believe it, but the traditional-looking room and clothes - the nurses have a fairly normal pale pink uniform; but the healers' black one seems from another time - that I have been seeing around here keep reminding me of how real it all is. I haven't yet seen much of the place I've arrived in, though. I guess the portal must've been too unstable, since I still haven't recovered enough from the journey to walk - I feel dizzy every time I stand and headaches come easily. Thankfully the place is usually very quiet. Even considering I've drifted in out of sleep all day - I can't help thinking it has to be the effect of some medicine, though I don't recall being given anything - I have now been awake for over 30 minutes straight. _

_Each time I wake up, there's been a constant presence - either a nurse in a pink kimono or a 'healer'. When I asked my caretaker, Yamada Hanatarō, he told me they had lots of staff to spare, and seemed sad suddenly - which puzzles me a bit. Wouldn't that be a __**good**__ thing? _

_I arrived Day 1, let's say, and slept through Days 1 and 2. Today is Day 3. _

_Today's Data_

_**I arrived on April 17th and today is the 19th**_

_Oddly enough, no-one (including Hanatarou) seems really sure of the year... He said he'd ask around though_

_**Day/night cycle with similar hours**_

_It's getting dark outside. Must be around 7:30 p.m. _

_**Similar spring temperatures**_

_About 19.5°C in this room and pretty much the same outside (Hanatarō opened the window for a while this afternoon) _

_**People**_

_If they aren't the same as humans from home, then I don't know what they are - they look similar enough to me (unlike those keyhole-handed people who I heard about once) _

_**Fauna**_

_Similar, at least. I heard a robin a moment ago, as well as some other bird song I didn't recognize _

_**Time period?**_

_This place reminds a lot of medieval Japan, yet they have modern medical equipment... Also, people seem to speak an odd mix of old and modern Japanese. Not a single trace of a Russian accent. History definitely didn't happen the same way here (I'll have to tell Sis about this when I get back. She loves History so much, maybe I'll finally be able to strike a proper conversation with her...) _

_**Gravity**_

_I am __**confused**__. I would have sworn I had arrived on a smaller planet than my own (I feel so light I sometimes wonder if I'm not ever-so-slightly floating...), but my portable gravimeter indicates the same values as it did back home... Either I've hit my head, or been drugged, or the gravimeter is broken (these are __**so **__delicate, but the box does not appear damaged). Either that, or matter is lighter here. Which would have me __**baffled **__(I'll have to look into that sometime) _

_**Mental powers**_

_Yeah, no. That's probably not the right term - but it's the only one I found for this. Even now, I'm not sure I know what it did to me... _

_I guess you never know what you may find in another world. But if anything, I'd have expected to meet flying fish rather than be confronted with mental powers. _

_Or whatever it was. _

_**Anything omitted from these notes is due to its lack of confirmed information or of relevance to the mission.**_

* * *

**I'll be away on summer vacations for roughly a month, so the next update may be quite late as well. But I can't do much about it for once. I'll make sure to write a lot more when I'm out of Internet though, so I'll hopefully stop being behind like this (I started out writing one chapter out of two, thus my problem) **

**The cover is a photo by Ana Tavares, from Unsplash. **


End file.
